The Tallinn semifinal of the 15th edition of the Estonian Youth Band Awards, Noortebänd was organized on 26 and 27 September 2015. Noortebänd is an annual event that brings forward the best of Estonia’s youth bands and offers them exposure and a platform to showcase their talents. Being a competition for youth bands, all the performers are not older than 26 and operate in Estonia. Fabulous prizes are offered to finalists and winners, some even get an opportunity to perform at the Tallinn Music Week!
An energetic and young crowd gathered at Café Sinilind in Tallinn Old Town on both days to watch and support their favourites among the ten teams who battled it out for two spots in the final event.
The first of the five bands to perform on 26 September, Moody Ocean set the mood for the evening with their enchanting performance. They performed three songs that got the crowd grooving to their beat and hungry for more. What was amazing about the evening was the diversity of genres played by the bands, from jazz (Out in Tintou) to rock and heavy metal, there were performances that suited everyone there. The next band to perform was Voice of Voices and their energy and skill in getting the audience involved with their music led them to being declared as the winners of the evening and hence one of the two finalists from Tallinn later that night.
The evening of 27 September saw five more groups perform in hope of getting the one slot left for teams from the Tallinn semifinals. While Eliot Ness, J.A. Band and Ajupesumasin put forward exceptional performances, driving the crowd ecstatic (the crowd demanded an encore from Ajupesumasin after their actual performance was over), it was Abandoned Elysium that stole the show and the spot in the finals of Noortebänd 2015.
The Tartu semifinals will be held on 2 and 3 October to select two more bands that will play at the finals, while one band will be selected by the audience vote through a wild card system, bringing a total of five bands to perform in the final, which will be held on 24 October in Tallinn.
